Escape to Montreal

Hi guys,

I thought for this post I would go over a more recent experience, in fact so recent it was 3 days ago. As it was reading week at Carleton this week, therefore no classes, I thought I’d take the opportunity to venture outside of Ottawa and experience a new place in Canada. Since arriving in Canada, I hadn’t really gone outside of Ottawa and I didn’t book onto a trip to Quebec City that was organized by the International Students Society, mainly because during the time bookings were being accepted, I had just arrived and hadn’t even acclimatized to the city I was staying in yet.

For those who don’t know, Montreal is a major city not far from Ottawa in the French speaking province of Quebec. Montreal is the most English-speaking city in the province, but a vast majority of the population are either native French speakers or bilingual. The name is derived from the huge near mountain status hill that the city is built around, called Mount Royal. 

Montreal is also the home to the Montreal Canadiens; the rival ice hockey team to my team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Needless to say, I took the necessary precautions to leave my Leafs hoodie, hats and scarves in Ottawa. 

I’m not a coward, I just know how to preserve my own life. 

I mean, come on. A guy rocks up to Montreal, doesn’t speak a lick of French and is flaunting Leafs merch. That would be a terrible idea. 

The journey was pretty good. By train, Montreal is only a 2 hour journey away from Ottawa. The rail system in Canada is also considerably different to that of the UK. It feels as though you’re boarding an aircraft. You don’t just get your ticket and go to the platform and wait for your train. You gotta wait from your train number to be called and go to the gate. Then get your boarding passes checked to then go and board the train. 

Upon arriving in Montreal, I made my way to the Airbnb I had booked. Dropped off my luggage and got an uber to the first experience I had pre-booked for that evening: Axe throwing.

From what I had been told, axe throwing is a Quebecoise pastime. The origins of which are a bit blurred. Some people I asked said it stemmed from the native Canadians of the region. Others say the sport originated from bored lumberjacks. 

Either way, it was great experience. I particularly enjoyed throwing the large woodchopping axes and the knives. You felt like a proper badass throwing the knives whilst holding them by the blade. 

The next day, I ventured into Downtown Montreal and visited the Grévin Wax Museum. I had pre-booked this in a sort of “Eh, why not?” moment. It was pretty good way to kill an hour and see the methods of how they make these incredibly detailed wax recreations of celebrities. Later on, I visited the McCord museum at McGill University, where they were hosting an exhibition on Indigenous Canadians. 

Afterwards, being the nerd that I am, I paid a visit to the Grand Library at The Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ). 

Montreal was an incredibly pretty city with a more European feel than the cities of their Ontarian contemporaries. Not just because of the language difference but also the overall city structure. Incorporating European city design into the American grid road system. Plus all the potholes in the road, a staple of any European city. 

I had decided to visit Montreal during reading week as the next time I will do some proper travelling will most likely be after I finish my studies. With the plan being to explore more of southern Ontario to visit Toronto and Niagara, with maybe a short stay in the States. Due to this route, Montreal wouldn’t have played into that plan. 

It was nice to return to Ottawa as well, I strangely missed Ottawa despite visiting Montreal to get a break from my temporary home city. Also, Montreal was considerably colder. Returning to Ottawa, the temperatures felt mild in comparison. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip to Montreal. If you have any suggestions of how I can improve these posts in any way, please let me know, as I do wish to improve my writing skills.  

Cheers,

Taylor